A God Among The Stars
by Lasgalendil
Summary: "The Quest stands on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and you will fail, to the ruin of all." Sauron knows their names, he knows their kinds, and he can alter history to ensure that this time, the Fellowship fails. Now it's up to Hari Seldon to make sure the chain of events remains unbroken from Cuivienen to pave the way for the greatest friendship in Middle-earth.
1. I Ascend from Darkness

…I ascend from darkness

And depart on the winds of space for I know not where;

My watch is wound, a key is in my pocket,

And the sky is darkened as I descend the stair.

There are shadows across the windows, clouds in heaven,

And a god among the stars...

—_Morning Song from "Senlin",_ Conrad Aiken

* * *

**Northern Gondor**

**The Rapids of Sarn Gebir**

**23 February TA 3019**

A steady thum. A piercing cry. Far across the river orcs are cheering on the Eastern shore. The Ring Bearer looks up. A winged shadow descends, and darkness blots out the stars…

But the bow of Lórien never sings. The shadow falls. The Hafling is killed. The Ring is taken. The Fellowship scatters, and Sauron will have dominion even unto the uttermost ends of the earth. For against the will of the Lord of the Rings even the Powers themselves cannot stand.

Then—

A whisper. A voice echoes in the Void as it did _Eä!_ long ago: _A__thâraphelûn Dushamanû__dhân!_

His servants shout: _Aka__shân!_

The Children cry out: _Ae, Ae! Elio Adar, edraith ammen! Rehtië, rehtië, Á etelehta, Atar!_

Silence. The Void swallows all.

Alone in Eternal Night the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne remains, chanting:

_Ash nâzg durbatulûk, ash nâzg gimpatul, ash nâzg thratatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul_.

* * *

AN: This is the poem that gave Madeleine L'Engle's _A Swiftly Tilting Planet_ its name. As this fic is heavily inspired by that book, I thought it was only fitting to find a title of my own.

Amateur, hobbyist Tolkien linguist here, who'd appreciate any feedback on usage of his many wonderful languages. This fic will be heavily influenced by the internal and external histories of the development of the languages and dialects of Middle-earth. Did you know, for instance, that we have very few words in Valarin, yet one may have made its way via Sauron into Black Speech, the tongue he formed for the Avari he and Melkor had twisted into orcs long ago?

"Anthony Appleyard has pointed out that one word in Sauron's Black Speech, _nazg_ "ring", seems to be borrowed from Valarin **naškad** (or **anaškad**? The word is isolated from **Mâchananaškad** "Ring of Doom", so we cannot be sure of its exact form). As a Maia, Sauron would know Valarin." -"Valarin: 'Like the glitter of swords'". Ardalambion.

[...c'mon, folks. You've _got_ to admit that's cool.]

Sources: Ardalambion, Quettaparma Quenyallo, Parf Edhellen.

Divine Utterance, language unknown (possible Common Eldarin assimilation): Eä. "Let it be!/Exist!"

Valarin: Athâraphelûn Dushamanûdhân. "Arda marred".

Valarin: Akashân. "He says." [The Quenya word axen meaning "law, rule, commandment"(WJ: 399) is derived from this Valarin phrase.]

Sindarin: _Ae, Ae! Elio Adar, edraith ammen! _"Alas, alas, help (for one), Father, saving for us!"

Quenya: _Rehtië, rehtië, Á etelehta, Atar!_ "Rescue, rescue, O deliver (us), Father!"

Black Speech: _Ash nâzg durbatulûk, ash nâzg gimpatul, ash nâzg thratatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul_. "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."


	2. And Depart on the Winds of Space

**Midwest USA**

**Indianapolis, Indiana**

**June 29th, 2014 CE**

Call me Hari.

I have two birthdays.

I was born Harry Liam Sheldon on midsummer's night in 1990. I was nicknamed "Hari Seldon" by my nerdy parents less than thirty seconds later, and Hari Seldon I would remain.

I was reborn as Harriette Lynn Sheldon on June 23rd, 2005. That's when all the official paperwork cleared, at least. Mom and dad had been calling me their little girl long before, but that's the day we finally made the name and status change legal. And I don't blame them or Dr. Caihe—a large portion of questioning trans kids re-identify as cis as they approach puberty. I just happened to be one of the minority who didn't.

It's not bad or weird or anything. I'm a girl. I take birth control, just like any one else, and the extra estrogen gives me all those secondary sexual characteristics like tits, hip/waist ratio and a nice ass. The testosterone receptor blockers stop me from sounding like Samuel Jackson or having facial hair like ZZTop, and as for the rest…

Well, what is or is not currently between my legs is between me and my boyfriend only, end of story.

So yeah, I'm trans. But I'm not all that different than you. I had your typical childhood, you know, two parents, puppy, and a picket fence. I went through the horrors and hassles of puberty, just like you did. I went to school, got my heart broken, got back up and moved on, got a job, lived in that shitty first apartment where we could barely make rent and the walls were too thin and the AC never worked but damnit, it was home and it was ours.

I guess what I'm trying to say is in the end we're all emotionally complex, unique individuals who call ourselves human beings, and that means despite any and all our superficial differences, deep down inside, we're all the same. Just keep calm and don't be transphobic, okay?

So hey there, stranger. I'm Hari Seldon. I have two birthdays, and I have had many names.

To the Valar I was Athâratulukhashtâz. In Cuivienen, was Khînâ. In Gondolin, I was Laurië and in Doriath, Laurlómen. In Númeanor, they called me Calion, Nimruzîr, and Pharazinî. To the Hobbits I was Levazîro or Râmavet, to the Dwarves Heri Fullspaksdóttir, in Mirkwood and Lórien I was Glorben, and in Rivendell, Glorphen. To the US government I've been both Harry and Harriette, to my parents and friends I'm Hari, and to Sean, I'm—

Well, on further thought, what Sean calls me when we're in bed together is really none of your business.

Anyways, I'm Hari Seldon. And I guess you could say that being transgender is probably the _least_ interesting thing about me.

* * *

Athâratulukhâz: (Valarin) Appointed-gold

Primative (Quendian) Elvish: Child.

Laurië (Q): Golden

Laurlómen (S-Doriathrin) Golden-echoing

Calion (Adûnaic): Golden

Nimruzîr (Adûnaic): Elf-friend

Pharazinî (Adûnaic): Golden-woman

Levazîro (Aduni aka "Westron"): Wise-woman

Râmavet (Aduni aka "Westron"): The Man-like

Heri Fullspaksdóttir (Norse-derived from the Voluspá and the Landnámabók, standing in as Dwarvish "outer name"): Hari Full-wise-daughter

Glorben (Sindarinized Silvan): Golden-one

Glorphen (Sindarin): Golden-one.


	3. N-1

**Northern Gondor**

**The Rapids of Sarn Gebir**

**23 February TA 3019**

A dark shape fell, blotting out the moon and stars. The Ring-bearer cringed, and high above him he could see the Elf silhouetted against the night sky, his head crowned in glittering starlight. The servants of the enemy had found them, but the heart of Legolas the Elf did not falter. "_A Elbereth Gilthoniel_," he sighed.

The bow of Lórien sang. The swift arrow found its mark and a horrendous cry fell on their ears. The terror faded. Far across the water, the jeers of the orcs turned to wails of dismay.

"That was a mighty shot in the dark, my friend!" said Gimli.

The Elf only peered out into the darkness, across the murmuring waters of Anduin. "But who can say what it hit?"

Then-

THEN

Then the voice spoke again into the Void, kindling the Flame Imperishable: _Athâraphelûn Amanaishal!_

His servants shout: _Akashân!_

The children cry: _Eglerio! Elgerio! A laita, laita sé! Andavë laituvalmes!_

And the finger of the Ring-bearer was bitten off, and the creature Gollum plummeted into the chasm of Onodrim, the foundations of Barad-dûr crumbled and the Dark Lord was no more…and Master Samwise returned to Bag End and his wife and child, his supper at the door.

"Well," he said. "I'm back."

* * *

AN: This is what happens when an author gets a great idea for a good fic but doesn't have the time/her Tolkien collection is halfway across the continent to write it. You've read the prologue, the first chapter…so I thought it only fair if I am to postpone this now-perhaps even indefinitely-then you deserve at least an ending.

"Nothing ever ends." -Dr. Manhattan, _Watchmen_

[Well, fuck THAT guy. Rorshack was the real hero of the story.]

[…and is no one else concerned that in the history of stories ever, Adrian Veidt is the first and only successful super-villian?]

But here I digress. Welcome, then, reader, to the penultimate and ultimate chapters of _A God Among the Stars. _Cleverly entitled "N-1" and "N" for all you math nerds out there (and they said I wouldn't need it for my major, bless.) and for lack anything better, although "Shadows Across the Windows/Clouds in the Heaven" and "A God Among the Stars" were my first choices, respectively. Perhaps someday if I finish the middle of this thing I'll allow myself to come back and change it. For now, an unfinished story doesn't deserve them.

Sindarin: _A Elbereth Gilthoniel._ "O Star-queen, Star-kindler."

Valarin: _Athâraphelûn Amanaishal!_ "Arda Unmarred."

Valarin:___ Akashân! _"He speaks!"

Sindarin:_____ Eglerio! Elgerio! _"Praise (Him)! Praise (Him!)!"

Quenya: _A laita, laita sé! Andavë laituvalmes!_ "O praise, praise Him! Long shall we bless Him!"


	4. N

Hari, Hari, you might ask. Whatever happened after that?

Nothing. Everything. The older I get the more I don't think of the two as being mutually exclusive. At least I assume so. The world went right back to being just the way it always was—or had been, or would be—and no one really noticed. Sure, there's the odd resistance slogan of Frodo Lives that got stuck in the 70's and just sort of hung around, echoes of the dying multiverse that wouldn't be erased, but besides that history pretty much just took care of itself.

Really, Hari. What actually happened?

Okay. Fine. Have it your way:

"…and he lived happily ever after until the end of his days." –The Red Book of Westmarch

Bilbo Baggins

That's all Tolkien tells us. That's all we'll ever truly know.

But if you're not satisfied with the uncertainty of truth, then make up your own. Choose your own adventure. It is, after all, a Tale That Grew in the Telling.

Maura Labingi

1) Frodo Baggins crossed over the Sea with his uncle and adoptive father, Bilbo. They lived their last days in fullness and splendor, content to learn the language of the Elves, write poetry, and drink the wine of the blessed realm until their hearts' content. They died within moments of one another, content to go On into the Music of the Song and become living melody.

They are buried together in Tol Eressea.

Banazîr "Ban" Galbasi

2) Samwise Gamgee was elected Mayor of the Shire seven consecutive times. He had xxx sons and daughters and xxx grandsons and daughters and xxx great-grandsons and daughters and to this day is remembered as the most famousest of Hobbits when the myths of Mad Baggins have all but faded. Upon the death of Mistress Rose, it is said he went to the Sea. He was last seen from the Tower Downs where he entrusted the Red Book of Westmarch into the safekeeping of Faramir Took.

Samwise Gamgee is buried beside Mr. Frodo in Tol Eressea, the last of the Ring-Bearers.

It was on his insistence that a tomb was erected for Smeagol as well.

"Mr. Frodo," he said, "would've wanted it that way. He did help an' save the world, and all. And he was a Hobbit once, or very near to one. And beggin' your pardon, Lady, but G stands for Gollum as much as anything."

Kalimac "Kali" Brandagamba

3) Meriadoc Brandybuck was buried in Rath Dinen among the Great of Gondor, and his bier was placed beside that of his good friend, Peregrin Took of the Tower Guard. His heart and right hand, however, were interred in Ithilien in the grave of the White Lady of Rohan, and his tobacco pouch and his books were buried in Edoras in the tomb of Theoden King.

Razanur "Razar" Tûc

4) Peregrin Took was buried in Rath Dinen as befitted his rank in the Tower Gaurd, laid to rest beside his closest companion, Meriadoc Brandybuck. His grave was watched over by the sons of Bergil, son of Beregond, for generations to come.

Boromir son of Denethor

5) Boromir died defending the Halflings Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took, aged 35. It is said the boat of Lórien rode the falls of Rauros and carried the body of Boromir out among the stars, and some in Gondor still claim that xxx.

Tar-Elessar Telcontar: Aragorn Arathornion Ethelharn

"Estel"

6) Aragorn son of Arathorn got the girl. He wants you to know that whatever happened before, or whatever happens after, it was worth it.

"Gimli"

7) There is a note in the copy of the Tower Downs in the hand of xxx Took concerning the fate of Gimli the Dwarf, but even then it was nothing more than rumor. Perhaps the Dwarf walked off into the base of the mountains to die alone as some Dwarves do. Among the Rohirrim of the Westfold it is rumored that he will wake again like Durin of Old, but Dwarves as a rule are insular, and do not share their stories readily, and they find no shame in lying to those outside their kin.

What is known is this: Gimli Gloin's son has no tomb. He took no wife and fathered no sons. Few Dwarves do.

Legolas

8) It is said in the Red Book of Westmarch that each of the Company stood before the Lady of the Wood, and each in his own head heard a choice: to abandon the quest without shame for what his heart most greatly desired, or to continue and face the uncertainty and horrors that lay upon their road. What choices she offered each remained a secret unto themselves. None, said Frodo, could long return her gaze, save Legolas of the Elves.

It was after this that the others marked a change in him that they wondered to behold. What choice did she offer? And what did he choose? We will never know. That he continued the quest beyond all peril, when his own people were beleaguered by the Enemy we know. That he fought beside the King of Men, and had a strange friendship with a Dwarf of Erebor that many remarked on, we know. That he stood before the Gates of Mordor where his father's father and his mother's people were slain in the thousands in long ages past, we know. And that is has been reported that Gimli Gloin's son went with him across the sea, we have also heard.

"Strange it may seem," said Legolas, "but while Gimli lives I shall not come to Fangorn alone."

"Come, Gimli!" said Legolas. "Now by Fangorn's leave I will visit the deep places of the Entwood and see such trees as are nowhere else to be found in MIddle-earth. You shall come with me and keep your word, and thus we will journey on together to our own lands in Mirkwood _and beyond._"

If the rumors of Gimli's departure are to be believed, perhaps there is more to be added to their tale.

It is said an Elf loves once, and only once. But that love endures, undying.

Olórin/Mithrandir/Incánus/Tharkûn

"Gandalf"

9) Gandalf the Grey thinks white stains too easily for travel and hates to pay his dry-cleaning bill. He enjoys wine-tasting, fondue parties, and is particularly fond of knitting homespun socks.

I saw him once more, in his favorite guise as an old man in a weathered grey cloak with that familiar silver scarf and blue hat, the long wisps of his eyebrows tickling its brim.

"This is the last time, isn't it?"

He leaned on his staff, and eyed me sagely. "All things must end, Hari Seldon."

"Not everything. Not always. Not love."

"Very wise," he pondered, nodding. "Very wise indeed."

"Doctor Who," I shrugged.

"You don't say," he produced parchment and a quill from the folds of his cloak. "I don't suppose—"

"You can borrow it, if you like."

"Just tell me, Hari. One last thing before our farewell…" When a wizard makes a request, you don't dare refuse. Even if it meant going on yet another unexpected adventure. "Old Bilbo was always so very fond of writing, too…but why 'A God Among the Stars'?"

"A Swiftly Tilting Planet. It's a Madeline l'Engle book about time travel and stuff. The title's from this one poem, and I thought, you know, given the circumstances—"

His bright eyes twinkled. "But why that particular phrase, Hari Seldon?"

"Oh, come on," I teased him. "Legolas took 'a shot in the dark' that saved the world, when back in Moria he dropped his bow in terror…And right before he did it he said a prayer. _Bala na i-ngiliath_?"

"A God among the stars!" laughed Gandalf, nearly choking on the end of his pipe. "Good gracious me, a God among the stars indeed!"

* * *

AN:

Sindarin: _Bala na i-ngiliath_. "(A) god among the stars."


End file.
